A Chance Encounter
by Cuthbert72
Summary: Sid meets Cassie on Brandon Hill and their friendship begins to develop. Takes place between Ep.1 and Ep.2 of Series 1. A bit of romantic fluff!


Cassie was feeling pleased with herself. A few days ago she had met a boy at a party in a large house on the outskirts of Bristol. He was one of her group of acquaintances, but she did not really know him. She liked him from the moment she was introduced to him just before going in to the party. He was quite shy and she liked that. However, by the time she passed out on a trampoline due to the effects of lack of food and some drugs she had taken, they were just beginning to talk quite openly with each other. She had sensed that he fancied her, but was still obsessed with his best friend's girlfriend. Deep in her heart she felt that their friendship had a future and just might develop into something worthwhile.

She was enjoying a pleasant afternoon looking round the shops. She had been invited to another party. This time it was going to be at her best friend's house. The boy would be there. She was looking for a dress to wear to it. After not finding quite what she wanted in the regular shops, she went into one of the charity shops and happened to find a sleeveless knee length dress that would be perfect. She particularly liked the pale creamy gold colour and the sparkly decoration on the bust and around the relatively low cut neckline.

After shopping, she went to her favourite seat on Brandon Hill to sit down, enjoy the sunshine and do some quiet thinking. She was watching some gulls flying above the harbour when she sensed that there was someone sitting next to her.

"Hi!" said a vaguely familiar voice.

She looked round. The boy from the party was sitting next to her on the bench, smiling.

"Wow! Sid!" said Cassie, smiling back. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been with Tony and Michelle for most of the day." said Sid. "They've gone to see a film and have a private snog, so I came up here for some fresh air. I recognised your golden hair and felt I'd like to talk with you. What brings you here?"

"I was doing some shopping." said Cassie. "After I've been to the shops, I always come up here. I so love this seat. It's such a lovely view. It stops me thinking about eating."

"You can't live without food, Cassie." said Sid. "It's as vital as breathing."

"I know, but I want to stay lovely." said Cassie. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Alright, but you mentioned eating." said Sid. "Are you coming to Michelle's on Thursday?"

"Yes." said Cassie. "It should be fun."

"Who else is coming?" asked Sid.

"All our gang and a couple of other girls." said Cassie. "Oh! Wow! Look at all those birds."

Cassie had noticed a large number of gulls circling around the masts of the SS Great Britain.

"Wouldn't it be lovely to be a bird and fly away." continued Cassie, dreamily. "They seem so free."

"Where would you fly to?" asked Sid.

"Oh! I don't really know." said Cassie. "I think I might go to South East Asia, you know, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or somewhere like that."

"You like hot places then." said Sid. "Those countries are hot and very wet."

"It doesn't rain all the time there." said Cassie. "I've seen pictures of them and they look so lovely."

"But haven't they been war zones for a few decades?" said Sid.

"That's all over now." said Cassie. "People go there for holidays now. Parts of 'Tomb Raider' were filmed in some temple ruins in Cambodia."

"S'pose." said Sid. "but those places are so far away, and you might not come back."

"Oh! Wow! Sid!" said Cassie, smiling sweetly. "I do believe you're beginning to like having me around."

Cassie held Sid's hand.

"S'pose I am." said Sid as he gently kissed Cassie's cheek. "You're different. You're easy to talk to. I feel calm and relaxed when I'm with you, Cass. Do you think that means anything?"

"It means that you're beginning to fancy me." said Cassie. "I've quite liked you from the start. Michelle was right about you. You are sweet; in the nicest possible way."

"Is that good?" asked Sid. "because I took it as an insult last week."

"I know you did." said Cassie. "but what Michelle meant is that you're a really nice person. I think I am beginning to like you."

"Oh?" said Sid. "That's nice."

Cassie kissed Sid's cheek. "It's time for me to start for home." she said as she got up from the seat. "Would you like to walk to the centre with me? I'm sure you'd like something to drink."

"Of course I would." said Sid. "I'm hungry as well."

Sid and Cassie walked out of the park and down Park Street to the City centre together, holding hands. On the way they visited a café.

"What would you like to eat, Cass?" said Sid. "I'm having a ham salad baguette with mayonnaise."

"I'll just have a diet coke, thank you Sid." said Cassie.

They sat down and ordered their refreshments.

"Cassie!" said Sid as their food and drinks arrived. "I'm pretty sure you haven't eaten anything at all today. That worries me."

"As I told you," said Cassie. "I want to stay lovely."

"You're lovely enough." replied Sid. "There's a whole lot of difference between being slim and starving yourself to death. Now I've met you Cassie, I want you to stay alive and healthy."

"Oh Sid!" said Cassie smiling again. "I do believe you're beginning to care about me."

"S'pose I am." said Sid. "It was nice talking to you at Abigail's party. It gave me a pleasant feeling, but I was worried when you passed out. - Oh! And I'm so sorry I nearly drowned you. I think it might have been me who accidentally caught the gear selector and put the car into 'drive'."

That's alright, Sid." said Cassie. "It was a shock, but it certainly woke me up when the car fell into the harbour."

"You still looked very pretty afterwards when you were drenched." said Sid. "That was a lovely dress you were wearing."

"Thank you, Sid." said Cassie. "I didn't feel very pretty. I felt very cold and wet."

"You wouldn't have felt quite so cold if you'd eaten something." said Sid.

"I know." said Cassie. "I so wanted to be lovely for the party, but I didn't expect to be swimming in the harbour."

"I do really want you to stay alive." said Sid. "You've got to eat to survive. You can't live on thin air."

"Oh wow! Sid!" said Cassie. "You do care about me. You're so lovely."

"I know I've only just met you, but I'm beginning to like you." said Sid. "There's something very special about you."

"What do you mean?" asked Cassie. "Nobody's called me 'special' before."

"You're the first girl I've ever felt comfortable talking to." said Sid. "You don't try to score points. You seem to understand me. I get such a nice feeling when I talk with you. It makes me feel I want to get to know you."

"Why would I want to score points?" replied Cassie. "I'm beginning to like you and I also want to get to know you better. You're the first boy who hasn't wanted to force himself on me but I know you fancy me from the way you look at me. I like that."

"I've been hurt before." said Sid. "So I'm being a bit cautious. As I said, there is something special about you and I'd love you to think of me as a friend."

"Oh Sid!" said Cassie. "I already do. You're so nice. It's so lovely being with you. I'm glad you wanted to talk with me."

Sid persuaded Cassie to eat half of his baguette. He said that he really did want to see Cassie at Michelle's party.

After leaving the café, they continued walking hand in hand down the hill towards the city centre.

When Sid and Cassie reached the bus stops in the centre of Bristol, they embraced and kissed each other.

"I could get used to this." said Cassie, smiling as she disengaged her embrace. "Anyway, here comes my bus. Bye, Sid!"

"Bye, Cass!" said Sid. "See you at the party."

Sid was left with a wonderfully warm and contented feeling inside. For the time being, life felt good. He was still a virgin, but he had now met a girl who appeared to like him and with whom he was totally relaxed and at ease.


End file.
